WASHINGTON — Progressive darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been criss-crossing the country on a national tour, huddling with Dem powerbrokers and taking other steps that many seeking the presidency pursue — all while insisting she isn’t focused on the White House.
During the 2026 midterm primary season, Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has worked to boost lefty candidates in the Democratic Party, building critical connections that could come in handy next year as a 2028 decision looms.
“They assume that my ambition is positional,” she told famed Obama strategist David Axelrod earlier this month, ducking a question about whether she will seek the presidency.
“They assume that my ambition is a title or seat, and my ambition is way bigger than that. My ambition is to change this country,” she went on. “Presidents come and go. Senate [and] House seats, elected officials come and go, but single-payer healthcare is forever.”
Over the past month, the Bronx and Queens rep has swung through Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, and more as part of her crusade to boost progressive causes.
Those trips have given her the chance to workshop her messaging strategy and make inroads with key constituencies who may be valuable later on in a presidential primary.
Recently, she stumped for Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb (D), a self-styled democratic socialist, in the state’s 3rd Congressional District. Rabb later won the Democratic nod.
Ocasio-Cortez also traveled to Montgomery, Ala. to rally for voting rights, spoke at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, and fired off more endorsements in contests across America.
This week, she will roll through Montana to back candidate smokejumper Sam Forstag in his congressional race.
Last year, she began stumping with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on the “Fighting the Oligarchy” tour aimed at lifting up progressives across the country.
That has garnered speculation that she is the heir apparent to the 84-year-old Sanders in the progressive lane. Polls indicate that she could be.
She’s currently in fourth place among top speculated 2028 Democrats, with former Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg all ahead of her in the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate.
Earlier this year, chatter about Ocasio-Cortez seeking the presidency soured after her trip to Munich, Germany, in which she gave a word salad answer on what to do if China invades Taiwan, and suggested that Venezuela is below the equator.
No one has declared their 2028 bid just yet. Typically, candidates begin announcing their plans months after the midterm elections.
“The way she will evaluate the decision is really around where she believes she can make the most change,” a source close to Ocasio-Cortez told Axios, claiming she is genuinely undecided about 2028.
The congresswoman is also mulling a potential Senate primary bid against Chuck Schumer.
